Too Fast

I can't say this enough...kids grow up too fast. Ellie's entering pre-school this year. I'm happy, yet sad. She fell asleep on the couch today so I picked her up to carry her to her room, but could not manage to let her go. I brought her to the kitchen in my arms while keeping Jae company as we had dinner. I missed holding her while she slept. You see, Ellie used to be rocked to sleep for a good year. I never thought I would miss it. There's nothing better than feeling your child's arms wrapped around your neck, but don't get me wrong, I love that Ellie can sleep on her own and sometimes kicks me off her bed when I'm dozing off on it..."You sleep in your own bed, Mom."

We had fun outside today. Ellie has been swinging herself on the swing..."Look Mom! I'm doing it!" She is so cute. She had this look of extreme concentration on her face as she pumped her legs back and forth...her eyebrows furrowed...her glare straight ahead. I love it when she asks me, "Did you see me? Did you see me doing it?" "Yes, sweetie. I did." Then she smiles from ear to ear.

Ellie has also been taking to Harry Potter. I've been re-reading Half-Blood Prince and she's asked me to read it aloud to her. I never realized how poorly I read. I'm ashamed, but hey, Ellie doesn't know the difference. To her, I'm a genius and that's all that matters. Ha!

Oh, I have to mention one more thing. There's nothing cuter than a long-lashed 3 year old eating an ice-cream cone as if it were her last meal. And there's nothing sweeter than having that long-lashed 3 year old share her ice-cream cone with her illiterate mom.

Irish Breakfast

I had my first cup of tea with milk and sugar. Irish Breakfast black tea. Why? Cuz the tea box told me to. "Best enjoyed with milk and a sweetner."

I was pleasantly surprised. This may be my new "coffee".

I thank the white hair

Astonishing and somewhat comical, my mom told me that if it wasn't for her dad's white head of hair, our family would not be here today. My mom normally says random things that don't make sense so I normally don't pursue the topic. I just give her the "look" and move on, but this statement sent my curiousity to a different level.

According to my mom, during "war time" her father suffered his first stroke at the age of 37. To aid in the healing process, he took many different types of herbal medications, one of which was suspected to cause his hair to prematurely turn gray/white. Soon afterwards, her father was abducted by the Japanese then taken to a form of concentration camp. The Japanese thinking he was an elderly man because of his white hair, thought he would be useless/unable to do any work so he was sent back home.

I guess my grandfather was ovejoyed when he returned, thinking all he had suffered were a few beatings. Soon afterwards my grandmother became pregnant. Lo and behold, my mom was born 9 months later.

My grandfather lived well into his 60's or 70's I believe. Ironically, another stroke ended his life.

Kate's stats.

Kate's doctor's appt. was no fun! She cried from the minute she was weighed til the minute she got in her car seat. Ugh. There were a few moments she stopped crying to eat and burp.

Anyways, I'll start posting on Kate's blog again, but until then, here are her stats from her visit.

She is at the 50% weighing 13 pounds 14 ounces (let's just say she's 14 pounds since she's just had 5 ounces of formula)

She's at the 75% with her length at 24 1/4 inches and head circumferance at 16 1/2 inches.

Just to compare with Ellie's 4 month check-up, weight-14 pounds 12 ounces (75%), height-26 inches (95%), h.c.-17 inches (95%).

Kate's just a tiny version of Ellie, but I have to say, she's got some thighs!

On quite a different note, we suffered another power outage in our neighborhood. Schaumburg seems to experience a lot of those. It made me think about pre-boiling water for Kate's formula and stocking up on matches and batteries.

"ie"

Ellie's taken to ending every word with "ie" lately. For example, I was on her bed reading a book to her before bed, and she says, "don't lie down on my leggie." What the heck is a leggie? Oh, leg. I was squishing her leg.

Kate's 4 month doctor's appt. is tomorrow. 4 wonderful shots.

Stroller Ride

Morning with Bert

Kate greeted me with lots of rolling laughs as she heard me come in to her room this morning. What a great way to start the day! Kate's been busy learning to sit up and Bert's been a great help in that department. She loves looking at Bert. Wish Dad was here to witness all the excitement! We miss you very much! And Ellie finally asked where you (Jae) were!

Pics for Dad

Interesting fact

Interesting facts I learned from watching The Baby Human....it seems that babies born in the month of May tends to have a higher birthweight than those born in other months. Also, all babies are born with blue eyes. It is within the first hours that the color changes. Hmm...I'm not sure about this one. I guess you can't really tell since babies sleep after they are born...except Ellie. She was bright-eyed and ready to go home 5 minutes after she was born. But I do remember the color of her eyes were black...not blue. That would be wierd for an Asian to have blue eyes. That reminds me of Memoirs of a Geisha. Recently saw the movie. Why are all Asian-based movies sad? Did we suffer that much strife or are we just martyrs? Plus, every other sentence our elderly says conveys some strange abstract lesson...like a fortune cookie. Hmm...